We Live Again: 10 Face Your Fears
by Cosmina Inspira
Summary: As a new sinister presence lurks in the shadows, Lexington faces his personal demons and begins to experience visions of his worst fears after an encounter with a strange young woman. He seems ready to give in to despair when an old friend arrives and gives him renewed hope, and a new online friend is made from a Land of Enchantment.
1. Chapter 1

We Live Again

Episode 10: Face Your Fears

By Cosmic Inspiration

Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series, including the Goliath Chronicles, is the property of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliate Buena Vista Animation, originally created and co-produced by Greg Weisman. The characters Graeme, Ariana, Sata, Liz Bishop, Aurora, Kirstie, and Madoc are from TGS. The character Shady is inspired by an off screen character mentioned in the TGS episode _Unions_, but was never expanded on or further explained, so I am giving her my own interpretation in my fan fiction stories. All original characters are the property of the author Inspiration. No copyright infringement is intended here nor authorized by the copyholders. This author makes no profit from these stories and only writes for fun entertainment and love of this beloved animated series.

Author's note: This story takes place the night after events of 9. Remnants.

Previously on Gargoyles. . .

"I'm never trusting again." Lexington.

"No, Lexington, you were right. We must search for allies, kindred spirits." Goliath.

(Canon) _Thrill of the Hunt_

"What's your handle?" The blond girl looked at him speculatively, sizing him up.

"Lex. What's yours?"

She laughed, "Oh, you'll never find out until it's too late, but you can call me Liz."

(TGS) _Equality_

"Wh-who are you?" Lex asked.

"My name is Nicholas Maddox," replied the man.

(TGS) _The Sorcerer's Apprentice_

He looked from the iron hammer to the aged, ugly Maddox. "You're one of Oberon's Children!"

"One of his race, yes," Maddox rasped, "But never . . . _never_ one of his Children!"

(TGS) _Reprisals P. 3_

"I'm afraid it's not good," Xanatos said, "The implants can't be removed without causing permanent damage. Blindness, at the very least, since there's no way to restore your eyes."

"You mean . . . I'm stuck like this? I can't have them removed?" Lexington.

"I'm sorry." Xanatos.

(TGS) _Reprisals P. 3_

"Liz, would you like to try and take my mask off?" Lex

"This isn't some sort of come-on, is it? . . .Wow! You're really real, a real gargoyle, I mean." Liz

(TGS) _The Rising P. 2_

"Well, Broadway, I guess our Trio's down to two, huh?" He turned only to see Broadway helping Angela to her position. "And then there was one," Lex said sadly as he turned away, a single tear tolling off his cheek.

(TGS) _Out of Joint P. 2_

"Just an old project we discovered in the basement of Maddox Technologies. It was something cooked up by our old friend Sevarius during the Unseelie War. It was called Project Nightshade. It seems this particular project was abandoned. I'd like to know why." Xanatos to Fox.

(TGS) _Unions_

Scene of van and limousine crashing then exploding in TGS episode _Unions_.

...

In the medical wing of Castle Wyvern, two young gargoyles laid upon medical beds as three more figures worked at helping them recover from an ordeal they had suffered the previous night. Owen Burnett in his ever wooden fashion assisted the exchange gargoyle healer, Kwan Yin, with getting to know the different pieces of medical equipment and their functions, while steadfastly Lexington made repairs to Graeme and Ariana's life sustaining armbands as he studied the advanced and intricate technology they comprised of.

Though it had taken much of last night and tonight to repair the twins' armbands, with Lexington's ever growing expertise and fascination with technology he was able to get them stabilized and continued to work to get them functioning flawlessly again.

Though the armbands composed of a futuristic technology more sophisticated then anything Lex had ever seen before, it never ceased to amaze him how simplistic and elegant it was all connected and intertwined. Even more amazingly was how he quickly understood it all, as though it had been created by his own hand.

"How are you feeling now, Ari?" he asked a tired Ariana as she watched her 'Uncle' Lex work.

"Better, thanks to you, Uncle Lex," Ariana answered a bit tiredly, as she gave him a small smile.

"I wish you'd go faster, Uncle Lex," Graeme complained from the next bed over, "You made these things in one day, why're you taking so long?"

"Graeme, shush," Ariana warned, but the green beaked youth just stuck his tongue out at his sister, though he well understood what Ariana meant.

"It's okay, kids, I know you and your parents know a lot about the clan's future, but since Brooklyn and I had a talk about it I'm okay now with not knowing. If I'm always worrying about it I'll miss out on a lot of fun stuff right now, and besides not knowing is supposed to be half the fun."

The preadolescent gargoyles smiled at their short olive colored uncle, Ariana tiredly began to say, "If it makes you feel any better, Uncle Lex, you'll always be the smartest and greatest computer gargoyle we ever know."

For only a moment, Lex was unsure of what to say, but just smiled and said thank you as he continued to make steady repairs to Ariana's and Graeme's arm bands.

"I promise you, though," he then said with a more serious tone, "I'll see to it that those monsters pay for what they did to you. It's past time we put a stop to all of Madoc's evil once and for all."

The younger gargoyles just gave a look to each other that bespoke volumes of concern for their usually fun uncle.

As Lex then moved on to resume repairs on Graeme's armband, Kwan Yin came quietly and demurely from behind him to observe his work. He gave a quick glimpse and a smile, which she just politely returned.

"Whaddya think?" he then happily asked.

"Amazing," Yin complimented, "I am still learning much about the medicine of the human world, and it is remarkable that such small machines can help keep these hatchlings alive."

"Hey," Graeme complained, "We're not _hatchlings_ , we're warriors."

Yin just gave Graeme a neutral glimpse, while Lex raised an eye ridge in warning.

"Please excuse my brother, Yin-san," Ariana spoke up as she gave Graeme a dirty look, "He can be a real pea brain sometimes."

Graeme gave his sister a dirty look, but she just smiled in amusement to herself.

Lex gave a short nervous laugh as he looked at Yin, but she gave a small neutral smile.

"Kids will be kids," he said, Yin only nodded.

She observed Lex's work for a minute more in silent fascination, and then said, "With your permission, I would very much like to learn how these small machines work."

Lex looked up from his work of fusing wires together in Graeme's arm band with a pen sized flare torch as tiny gold sparks flew about like a strange omen. A small smile then graced his round face as he then said, "No problem. Only thing is I'm still learning about how they work myself, but it's all really fascinating."

"But why did young Graeme say you made them if you say you are just now learning about them?" Yin asked with confusion.

As a few more sparks flew from Lex's tool, the smile faded to a frown as he just said with a glum tone, "It's complicated."

Yin continued to look at Lex in confusion as Lex resumed his work in silence.

"If I have offended, I apologize," Yin then said demurely.

Lex gave a small sigh as he looked back at the light jade green female.

"It's okay," he quietly said, "It's just something that's not easy to talk about. But it shouldn't stop us from learning, right?"

Yin gave a small nod.

Lex then began telling Yin of what he so far had learned about the armbands and their technical intricacies, though often he had to back track about what all of the terminology meant and answer questions when she did not fully understand. Occasionally, Lex would even get off topic to begin taking about a computer game or program he liked and how he could show Yin some time, and she would firmly but politely ask him to remain on the topic of fixing the armbands. Lex would apologize for being so scatterbrained but Yin understood well how Lex felt, for she too became excited by new things in her interest of healing.

Lex was not too bothered by Yin's need to stay focused on his work because she was, in a way, right, and he was just happy to finally talk to a female who may share some of his interests, not since his older clever sister with the orange skin and spiraling horns.

A half hour later, Yin then said, "If this technology can be duplicated, it may greatly extend gargoyle life spans, or perhaps help to heal weak eggs and allow the hatchlings inside the shells to survive."

"Those are pretty good ideas," Lex said as he looked up from his work, "But with how advanced they are, it'll still take me years or even decades to fully understand how they work."

"If you will allow it, Lexington," Yin said contritely, "I will be most humbled and pleased to help you in your research."

"Sure, absolutely," Lex said excitedly.

"I could also present the idea to my clan leader when the time comes for me to return."

Lex just gave a sour expression as he said, "If you ask me, Mei Hsing will just find another 'legitimate' reason to reject it, and that'll give her another reason to be condescending to Goliath."

Realizing what he said a nano second too late, Lex looked back at Yin to see her ever present quiet demeanor now seem to become a few degrees chillier.

"I am aware of our leaders disagreements," Yin said calmly, "I don't always agree with Mei Hsing's judgments, but she is still my leader and must be shown the utmost respect, as I show the utmost respect for your clan leader."

Lex gave a small hesitant nod and an embarrassed mumbled apology, and then resumed his work as an awkwardness settled uncomfortably between them.

Having watched from the side in his ever wooden demeanor, the Puck within Owen nevertheless was amused by what he saw, yet also felt a bit sorry for the short webbed wing.

Feeling awkward about his resentful statement, Lex nonetheless apologized, and the two older gargoyles continued their work in respectful silence on the two recovering adolescents.

A half hour before Sunrise, the clan's patrol groups began to return home, but not all were in high spirits. Everyone in the clan had worried for the survival of the twins, especially their parents, Brooklyn and Sata. So it came as no surprise when they were the first to come see Lexington and Yin as soon as they landed at the castle.

"How are they?" The words were out of Brooklyn's beak even before he sighted Lex.

Lex could sense the tenseness from Brooklyn as a thick foggy aura, but he remained calm even as he stood awkwardly by Yin to tell Brooklyn and his mate, "They're doing fine. I should have their arm bands fixed as good as new in the next night or two. They'll be back to making trouble for the clan before you know it."

Both parents breathed a palpable sigh of relief, though it was more thickly felt by Brooklyn than from Sata's disciplined countenance.

"Lex's skill with the machines is most impressive," Yin demurely said, "The hatchlings become stronger as he continues to work on them. I know that as we work together, it will mean a good future between our clans."

Lex looked up at Yin with a bit of surprised confusion, but she just gave him a demur smile and small nod which Lex then returned.

Yin gave them all a small bow before then retiring to her private cornice.

Brooklyn smiled down at Lex as he said in a casual tone, "She seems nice enough."

Lex just gave Brooklyn a glare with a raised eye ridge as he said, "Yeah, she is, but forget about setting us up. I'm sure I've already screwed up any chance of courting with her. Besides we hardly have anything in common, she'll only talk to me about computers if they have something to do with healing."

As the three of them began walking together to their cornices, Brooklyn placed a hand on his smaller brother's shoulder as he said with support, "Give it a little time, Bro, maybe things'll work out for the better."

Lex looked up at Brooklyn with a bit of suspicion, and looked ready to ask a question but decided against it, yet Brooklyn still caught it.

"Let's just say that even though I know of certain outcomes, and I thought I needed to play a role in them, most of the time they all worked out without my help."

Lex just gave a nod, clearly not wanting to speak of it anymore.

In a bid to change the subject he asked, "So how's Broadway?"

Brooklyn gave a heavy sigh as he said, "Still moping. I tried to get him to talk to me on patrol tonight, but I barely got two words out of him. If I can't get him to snap out of it soon I don't know what I'm going to do."

"If we find whatever it was that beat him up, he can go a few rounds with it and give it a taste of its own medicine. I know I would," Lex said with a slight growl, making Brooklyn and Sata look at him worriedly.

The resident clan of Castle Wyvern soon took their places upon their personal perches, and all assumed what were meant to be fearsome poses, but several fell short. While several gargoyles tried to appear to give silent roars or snarls, an expression of sadness or worry remained upon the faces of Broadway, Angela, Brooklyn and Sata as the Sun began to rise in a bright golden radiance from the Eastern horizon. Of all the former Trio, only Lexington seemed to be successful at appearing frightening, even for a small gargoyle.

Moments before being claimed by stone sleep, there appeared a tiny glimmer of red light from his right retina to signal a systems shut down, as it always did every Sunrise.

****Elsewhere in a shadowy place.

It has been some time since the strange explosion that had set her free, and yet had made her weak, though she now grows in strength. She does not remember much before it happened, only a long endless darkness and unbearable silence.

Then came that intense, blinding and blistering light, like suddenly staring directly into the Sun with your eyes fully open after so long in a dark cave, to suddenly be forced to see such a light had been agonizing. Yet this proved to be nothing as the burning light was immediately followed by an even more intense burning heat like a flare from the Sun.

There was pressure that sent her sailing far through the air, chaos raged around her and all she could think was she needed to get away. Though she succeeded in escaping, she was still greatly weakened, just barely alive. She needed time to heal, time to recover and discover who she really is, what she had become.

At first she felt not only weak, but an intense anger and hatred that was as black as the entrapping darkness that had claimed her and that burned hotter than the explosion that freed her. Anger and hatred towards who, she could not remember, until enough time had passed to allow dormant memories to resurface.

She remembered after the explosion having sighted winged forms amiss the chaos, and she was certain they were gargoyles, hateful creatures that only ruined everything. She then remembered a rich man named Maddox or something, who really turned out to be a blue skinned freak of nature who did nasty things to her, and she hated him for it. So when she proved to be uncontrollable, he had her imprisoned.

During her imprisonment, through the endless black silence, she remembered feeling an insatiable hunger for revenge, but against who, the gargoyles or Maddox, she could not decide.

Yet as time steadily passed and she grew in strength, she began to realize the power she now had allowed for the freedom to now truly do whatever she wanted, and screw the consequences.

No longer will anyone be able to suppress her or keep her from doing what she wanted and having fun, especially her so called 'master.'

Even if Maddox tried to recruit her again, no matter how much she feared him she will face him and resist.

She could now truly revel in her freedom and power.

Revenge will simply be another perk.


	2. Chapter 2

****Castle Wyvern, the next night

Lexington felt more refreshed as he splashed cold water onto his face in the clan's private lavatory, the shock of its icy cold touch upon his olive green hide like a freezing fire waking him even more than from the bursting of his stone shell of the day's slumber.

For some brief moments his wide eyes were twice their size from the shock of the fiberglass sink's chilling liquid substance, the expression quickly passed to then be replaced with a look of doubt as Lex felt a strange alien sense of a kind of disassociation, as though it were not his face looking back at him in the reflection of the mirror, but some other gargoyle instead, a warped twist version of a shell and not the once promising young warrior.

He quickly shook himself out of his self delusion and finished cleaning himself, resetting his mind on the far more important task of the night he was certain will take much of his time.

After several more long hours of making the final repairs to Graeme and Ariana's life sustaining arm bands, an exhausted Lexington schlepped himself over to the computer for some free time with any of his online friends.

Though he was willing to remain by his young rookery siblings sides, they told him they were feeling much better and they did not need to be smothered over, so he could go hangout. Kwan Yin also thanked Lex for his concern and said she will watch the twins for the rest of the night and the next night. The ebony haired jade skinned healer seemed to have forgotten or forgiven his insult of last night as she gave him a small but politely friendly smile.

Now, as Lex warmed up the computer he thought about whom he would cyber chat with and what were some of the latest happenings in the online world.

He actually hoped his cyber pal Sting Ray was also online now so they could have their rematch. Lex liked the guy, but sometimes he sounded so obnoxious and way too competitive, and yet that is weirdly what also made him fun. In some ways, Sting Ray reminded Lex of what it used to be like with his brothers before they took lifemates.

As he went to the first of his favorite online chat rooms, as though by some strange karma he found not Sting Ray, but another old friend.

 _LexT_ _Hey, Liz._

 _eLizinator_ _Hey, Lex, long time no see. *Punches Lex on shoulder.* What's all the haps, bud?_

Lex then told his best human friend, Liz Bishop, who was currently attending college overseas in London, all of the latest current events since they last cyber chatted, a lot of which were not his favorite moments. Liz was at least glad to hear that things had gotten a bit better between him and Brooklyn, while she was also sorry to hear about Broadway and having missed Goliath and Elisa wedding, as well as thrilled about her pregnancy. They even chatted a good long while about the gargoyle council, which always sounded so exciting to Liz, and a bit about the vampires, which fascinated Liz to much of Lex's chagrin. She was also glad to hear the twins were doing better and sympathized with Lex's 'girl problems,' which then made Liz drop the bomb about how she feels like almost every guy at her university must have asked her out.

"Everybody's pairing off except me," Lex bitterly mumbled to himself.

Liz then joked about how her and Lex should try one of those new dating websites.

Although it made Lex momentarily smile, in an attempt to change the subject he then asked Liz if she met the local clan. She then went on to tell about finding the Into the Mystic shop in Soho and having met the owners, Leo and Una. It greatly amazed Liz how they looked so different from Lex and his clan, like flying heraldic animals little kids dream about, and she even told him about how she helped get the PIT Crew get a foot hold in London.

This made Lex very proud of his friend, and their cyber chat would have continued just as a young voice called out,

"Unca Lex, Unca Lex, look what Unca Puck showed me!"

Little Alex, not yet four years old, ran to his favorite gargoyle pal with a wobble while covered in magical shimmering sparkles.

 _LexT_ _Hold on, Liz, Alex wants to show me something._

 _eLizinator_ _Sure, Lex, tell the squirt hi for me._

Alex yelled 'hi' to the computer, which Lex relayed, then watched as a hoard of Alex's toys and stuffed animals flew into the room with the same iridescent sparkles around them. They were not just flying around the room like from a simple levitation spell, they were actually moving on their own from an enchantment conjured by Alex to have their own life force.

Lex watched for the next five minutes in awed amusement as various toys frolicked and played about the room as though a scene from a kid's movie about toys coming to life, like Toy Story a few years ago and its recent sequel.

Cars raced each other, toy army soldiers marched in sync, and a toy robot beeped and walked about in a stiff but still life like way while a stuffed winged teddy bear flew about flapping its wings.

Alex's magical fun would have continued had Fox not just walked in to say to her little son, "Okay, sport, that's enough for tonight. Now put your toys away."

The little wizard gave a groan of disappointment, but his toys soon levitated back to his bedroom.

Fox scooped up the little boy and began playfully tickling him and making him cackle. Lex turned back to face the computer and continue chatting with Liz to only then read:

 _eLizinator_ _Sorry, Lex, I gotta go. But let's get together here tomorrow, same time. Oh, BTW, I'll be in town this weekend for my grandparents' anniversary and I'd like to see you. Let's meet at the last place we did._

 _LexT_ _Sure, Liz, that'll be great. I'll be there._

Arrangements were made by the two friends to meet over the weekend as Lex then left the computer to see the mother and son smiling and out of breath.

Through her smile, Fox asked Lex how things were with him. With a shrug Lex gave a slightly frustrated deep sigh as he said he is okay but things could be better for him. Sensing his disinterest to talk, with a frown Fox asked, "You aren't still mad at me about Hyena, are you?"

The olive skinned gargoyle just gave another shrug.

"I know we . . . got off on the wrong foot when we first met," Fox said, "But that was years ago, and I like to think we've become friends now. Maybe not best friends, but still friends."

Lex gave Fox a skeptical look, but could see honesty in her blue-green eyes.

"And as a friend," Fox continued after a long moment of silence, "If there's something you want to talk about, but are too embarrassed to talk to you clan about, you can talk to me and I promise to keep my mouth shut if you want me to."

Lex grumbled thanks, and then decided to say, "Hyena told me she went to you for help because she was dying from her implants."

"And you're afraid something like that is going to happen to you," Fox said in understanding, which Lex nodded to.

Fox took a deep breath as she began to say, "Well, you know I refused to help her, because like you I don't want to have anything to do with the Pack anymore. That's ancient history. And although I don't regret my time on the show with them, we were never really close or friends, just colleagues eager for action and our next big pay check. And one big difference I see between you and Hyena is that she is almost all machine now while you're mostly still you with a few implants in your head. But if it's any consolation, Lex, David still has his top cyberneticists and neural surgeons working on seeing if they can be removed at some point if you still want them removed."

Lex looked at the former TV star a bit surprised, to which she just smiled.

"All because of Alex?" he asked with knowing.

"All because of Alex." The little sunset red headed boy gave a giggle at the mention of his name as he squirmed in his mother's arms.

In a strange way this did make Lex feel a bit better about himself and almost trusting Fox. He then said to her, "It still makes me wonder if I even still have a soul, or can sire an egg with a female if I ever find a mate. I want to show I can do more for the clan than just being the freaky tech geek or going on patrols, or even being a rookery keeper in the future. I've worked too hard at being a warrior."

Fox only gave a small nod as she said, "I'm certain you still have a soul, Lex, that much is obvious. And if you want to do more for you clan, David and I are willing to help, because that's what friends do."

Lex gave the red headed woman a look with a bit of a hard edge as he said, "That's something I've had to learn over and over again since coming here, being careful about who I can make friends with."

A bit of hurt showed in Fox's eyes, understanding all too well what he meant. Some of his pain she may be able to help him with, but much of the rest he needed to face himself or with the help of another who understood better.

"I guess it's why I'm content now," He continued, "with making new friends with humans online. They don't judge me for being a different species or run away in fear from me, they like me for me and for sharing the same interests."

"What about Liz?"

"That's different, I got lucky. If it weren't for Alex turning me and the others into humans that day, we never would've met in person, and it was still months before I showed her who I really was."

"Maybe you'll get lucky again."

"I doubt it," Lex shrugged, "I still have to be careful about mentioning being a gargoyle around most of them, especially some with names like Hammerhead, Stonecrusher, or Demon Striker. Some could be anti-gargoyle or Quarrymen sympathizers. I can't always be sure."

This made Fox frown a bit more, yet she tried to reassure him, "Well, like with TV, Lex, things aren't always what they seem to be online. Those are just fun names for gamers or other online nerds and may mean nothing. But I understand your caution, you and your clan have been hurt all too often, but I do hope one day you'll be able to meet some more of your gamer friends without fear some day."

Lex again stared in quiet contemplation at this human he once looked upon with disdain for betrayal, impressed and appreciative of the lengths she and her husband went to atone for their many past transgressions against his clan.

Yet he was still reminded of one thing.

"You're right about that, Fox," Lex said glumly, "Things aren't always what they seem ever since Nicholas. . ."

Seeing where this was going Fox interrupted him, "Now you stop right there. I know he cut you deep, Lex, in more ways than one. But don't let that one thing he did to you define who you are, otherwise you're always letting him win. Any choices you make now are all that really matter."

Fox gave Lex a deep look of total serious honesty as she then left to put Alex to bed, leaving a perplexed Lexington with much to think about.

Although he tried to take some interest again in his computer, his mind kept wandering back to what Fox had said, and more and more he realized his former nemesis turned ally was right.

He had believed Nicholas Maddox was his friend, a good friend to have outside of the clan during a time his brothers were wooing their mates, too busy to hang out with him. A friend who understood what it was like to lose and become estranged from family and be misunderstood.

A friend who shared some of the same interests he did with new computer programs, devices, virtual reality, games, and best of all he supported gargoyles living in peace with the humans of Manhattan. They had even talked a few times about Lex considering becoming something of a silent partner in Maddox's company, or even a consultant.

He was even there for Lexington when he was terribly beaten by the psychotic cyber twins, Jackel and Hyena, and even offered a way to save his life. However, just the smallest hint of this though twisted at Lex's stomach and made his whole body tense in anger, all of his muscles tightening like a rubberband stretched to its limit and ready to snap. He took a few deep breaths to try to calm down, because he did not want to think about it like that nor did he want to give that sociopathic would-be King of Avalon any satisfaction, even in the afterlife.

Some how through his slowly evaporating anger, he thought about what Goliath had told him and the others about his lesson in integrity from the clan's late friend and ally, Halcyon Renard. Even though his leader had been tricked by Xanatos during their first nights in the new 20th century, a thousand years, an ocean and a land away from home, Goliath told his clan a little over a year after that night the importance of remembering personal integrity, even if you are deceived you are still responsible for your own actions and personal choices.

Difficult as it was to consider at this moment, Lex knew it was true. He may have been tricked into receiving his implants, but he had still made the choice, which meant in a painful sense he was just as responsible for his current condition as Madoc was.

But the deceitful bastard still tricked him, how was he supposed to know. . .Lex pushed this thought aside, and though it was true he had still made a choice.

And now he is going to make another.

Though Nicholas Maddox had really been an alternate identity for Lord Oberon's evil twin brother, to Lex he had been a real friend and their friendship was as real to him as his brothers and their bond had been.

Lex was unsure if he will ever really forgive Nicholas, but he will certainly never forget. Lex also knew, that like so many others over the course of the Second Unseelie War, Nicholas Maddox had died simply as another casualty.

As difficult as it has been for him of late to forgive old enemies, this thought strangely gave him a small sense of peace. He may have lost one human friend, but he still had a few left such as Liz and Sting Ray.

Fox was also right about one other thing, what truly defined him as a person were not his implants but his own choices.

What choices he was going to make at this point he was unsure of.


	3. Chapter 3

****A back alley in the slums.

They were after him, he was certain; he could smell them and practically feel them on his grimy skin. His lungs burned from breathing too hard as he ran as fast as his spindly legs could carry him, yet their muscles screamed in pain at him from too many years of unuse.

No matter how much his body begged his brain to slow down, he refused out of the ancient primal instinct to survive and make flight from the predator to be feared.

Yet the ancient predator that is fear often proves to be far more cunning and is all too often foolishly underestimated.

The scraggily street urchin had thought he knew where he was headed to, yet he instead suddenly found himself running into a small side alley with a high wall blocking his way as a dead end covered in a mountain of putrid smelling trash bags, much of them ripped with their repulsive contents loose and spread about the grimy and oily slick ground.

He slid to a halt as he cried out his despair at his sudden entrapment to then fall to his knees in total defeat.

The street urchin did not know how it came to this, all he knew was he just started talking with this hot looking chick who seemed feisty enough, and the next moment was something out of his worst nightmares.

They came from nowhere and everywhere, skittering from the shadows a few at a time to then be followed by seemingly endless swarms of ugly hairy and prickly bodies, huge bulbous liquid soulless black eyes, long spindly legs of an unnatural number, and long fangs dripping with syrupy venom.

At first he stood frozen in place in fear, as though his legs had forgotten how to work. Then as more and more creepy disgusting spiders endlessly appeared, instinct kicked in as he suddenly witnessed them begin to grow bigger and bigger as though from a freaky growth spurt.

Now they were an army, and they had their prey trapped.

They were upon him now, a nightmarish vision far worse than anything witnessed a classic horror movie.

From the open mouth of the alley, the giant ugly spiders rapidly skittered nearer and nearer, from the ground and on the walls. They looked at him with obvious hunger and all he could do was whimper in icy fear.

Now that they had their prey cornered, they leaped upon him as he gave a bloodcurdling fearful shriek. The street urchin struggled to get free of the nightmarishly hug spiders, but he just found himself being rapidly entwined with their organic silk threads that were far stronger than steel.

Soon he was completely wrapped in spider silks, as though an Egyptian being mummified alive. He tried to scream again, but he just gave a low muffled whimper.

At the entrance of the alley, a female figure silhouetted in shadows stood watching the street urchin struggle with something only he could see.

She did nothing, save give a low evil sounding laugh of pleasure.

****Above Manhattan, two nights later

Though the two rookery brothers made for a strange pair, as though to represent the opposites of small and large, nothing could truly break their lifelong brotherly bond, though recent events still proved testing.

While Lexington easily maneuvered the air currents that coursed though the concrete canyons of the Big Apple, Broadway struggled more to keep up from being weighed down by his extra girth his wings could barely hold.

As Lex flew gracefully ahead of his aqua colored brother, Broadway clumsily flapped his wings in an effort to keep up as he shouted, "Hey, Lex, wait up! Slow down, will ya?!"

Lex gave an annoyed sigh and rolled his eyes as he shouted back, "Maybe if you weren't stuffing your face with so much junk every night you wouldn't look like a flying tub of lard!"

Broadway growled at his smaller brother, but still panted hard as he scowled back, "You'd never understand what I'm going through. Besides I'd like to see you try to glide with this big a belly any better!"

Lex just scoffed as he began to mock Broadway with his aerial acrobatics in loop-de-loops as he proclaimed, "Oh, I know I could still out glide you, Broadway! Even if I was as fat as you. And the whole clan knows what you're going through, but you need to get over it and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Start acting like a male again and not a moping hatchling. Besides, Angela doesn't want a fat slob for a lifemate."

"At least I have a lifemate," Broadway mocked back, making Lex growl and his eyes glow.

He would have attacked his rookery brother if not for a high pitched fearful shriek echoing through their patrol sector.

Though they always patrolled one of these seedier parts of Manhattan, the clan had taken to more and longer patrols in this area in recent weeks because of occasional reports of people turning up on the streets in comatose states or even dead. Though they were most often hobos, winos, and street thugs, these alleged victims had all appeared healthy enough to be alive, if degenerated by their hostile living environment.

Reports of these victims were mostly dismissed by city authorities, but with Elisa's 'cop instincts,' observant eye, and experience with the supernatural, the clan patrolled more and more for anything 'unusual' for the last three months.

As the two bickering brothers soared closer to the source of the shriek, what they sighted did not seem all that unusual.

A gang of at least eight street punks surrounded a helpless looking young woman who stood frozen in the middle of their encasing circle with her back to a wall. What did appear momentarily strange to the gargoyles was that the filthy street punks were actually fighting amongst themselves instead of assaulting the young woman. No doubt they were fighting over who got rights to her first.

Even if it saved them a lot of trouble of subduing the street punks, Lex still knew that the young woman needed help. So he and Broadway landed hard just outside of the fighting to get their attention.

"Hey," Lex shouted, "That's no way to treat a lady."

"Oh, shit!" swore one of the street toughs, "there's more o' 'em!"

He turned from beating on his comrade to screaming at Lex as he brandished his iron crowbar to begin attacking the small gargoyle.

With his greater strength, Lex caught the long iron bar with both of his hands and snagged it out of the street punk's grip as Lex then flip him over himself in a Judo move to make the punk land hard on his back with a hard bodily thump. Through all this Broadway just stood on the side, hesitating about what to do until another punk came at him with an aluminum bat. He managed to duck under to make the assailant miss, but the bat instead hit the back of Lex's head to make him stumble forward a few steps as stars and twinkling spots swam and exploded like tiny fireworks in his vision. A few of the other remaining punks dog piled upon Lex and attempted to beat the disoriented Lex to a pulp, which was enough to shake Broadway from his hesitation to aid his smaller brother as he shouted at them,

"Leave him alone, you bastards!"

He manage to pull back with forceful yanks two of the streets toughs off of Lex to make them stumble, one of them crashed onto the frozen young woman to make her fall back. She seemed lucky to have a soft, if foul smelling, and greasy textured landing in a pile of trash bags to break her fall.

With a mighty high pitched roar and eyes aglow, Lexington punched off the last four punks upon him as he rose up like a small nightmare to send them flying back in different directions.

"Screw this, I'm outta here!" one of the punks declared as he ran in the opposite direction.

"Keep 'em away from me!" another yelled in fear as he too ran away.

As the street punks all ran away in different directions screaming in fear, Lexington then boldly declared, "Yeah, you better run, punks! Don't let me catch ya around here again!"

He then steadily and tensely turned back to face Broadway in anger with still lit up eyes, though their glow was only slightly dimmed.

"You idiot!" he snarled, "You stupid fat idiot!"

Broadway only stood frozen with shame as he gave Lex a frown as he said, "I'm sorry, Lex."

His entire countenance seemed to become plumper as his head and shoulders slumped down and his large majestic wings drooped lifelessly behind him. Lex then squeezed his eyes shut and his hands clenched into fists as he took a deep shaky breath to compose himself as he realized his wasted energy of taking out his anger on Broadway.

"It's okay, Broadway," he said in a low but hard voice, "I'll live."

He turned back to see the young woman stir from the garbage pile she had landed in, and stood straight up instead of his usual squat as she stood up. He approached her cautiously as she began to brush off trash from her figure, Lex asking with a voice filled with mixed emotions, "Are you okay?"

She gave him a look of he could not quite read, though it seemed to be a mix of curiosity, irritation, and intrigue. As he took note of her, he realized she may have only been an inch or two taller than him standing up, though she wore six inch high stiletto heel boots to make herself look taller that came just past her knees. The rest of her attire Lex could only describe as Gothic punk rock chick with all of the leather she wore in a short skirt, a smaller bomber jacket similar to Elisa's jacket with its sleeves pulled half way up her lower arms, fingerless gloves with spikes on the knuckles, and a tight corset to better define a healthy chest and reveal a muscular midriff on a figure too healthy to have lived long on the streets. She also wore a matching belt on her skirt and a choker around her neck, both with spikes around them and a buckle and pendant designed as a silver snarling skull with bat wings. Her face was attractive enough for a human female, yet it had youthful and graceful angles, even covered in makeup with deep red wine lips, dark indigo eye shadow and black eye liner encircling each eye to extend outside the edges like the look of a raccoon mask. As she moved her pitch black hair, styled like a wild mane of a rocker chick from the 1980s, and all of her leather clothing seemed to reflect with highlights of deep blue, violet, or indigo. Even her eyes glimmered in the faintest light of indigo color, while her skin was pale enough to have not been in the Sun enough, yet seemed to have a pale grayish lavender tint.

As she removed a greasy black banana peel from her shoulder, she spoke with a musical voice with a slight raspy lilt in an annoyed tone, "I had the situation under control."

Lex's eyes widen with a bit of surprise, mostly from how she did not react to him fear as he expected.

"Oh, well. . . uh, it's just what we do. We, gargoyles, help those in trouble no matter what."

"Admirable," she said with a not so unfriendly smile, "So, do my fearsome looking night defending rescuers have names?"

"Uh, I'm Lexington and the big blob behind me is Broadway." Pointing his thumb behind himself at his bigger rookery brother, Broadway gave Lex a dirty look.

The leather clad young woman gave a raspy laugh as she said, "Street names. Appropriate, though I expected something fiercer."

Lexington was not sure, but something about this girl creeped him out a lot. But she was being friendly enough, so he would give her the benefit of the doubt as he asked, "What's your name? Do you need help to get home?"

"Call me Shady," she said, "And no, I don't live far from here, but thank you."

She held up her hand, which Lex cautiously took as he reached out to take it and said, "No problem."

As Lex grasped Shady's hand, he felt a strange sensation, an ice chilly little tingling that went up his arm and down his spine to make the end of his tail twitch.

Invisible to mortal eyes, thin wispy strings of black mist encircled their hands for a few moments.

After a second or two, Lex pulled his hand away to say with a bit of nervousness, "Uh, okay. So, um. . . Broadway and I gotta get back to patrolling. Are you sure you'll be okay, Shady?"

"I'll be better now that I've met you."

"Okay," Lex said as he began to back away slowly, "Bye, Shady."

As soon as the gargoyles were safely high in the air and out of ear shot of the young woman they had supposedly saved, Lex found himself becoming overcome by a chilling apprehensive confusion.

"Weird," he whispered to himself.

Back on the ground, Shady opened her hand to see a small formless shadow shape itself into a smaller black silhouetted version of Lexington. It danced about in her palm momentarily to then have large glowing blood red eyes and a set of large shark like teeth form where a face would be, to then give a high pitched wailing shriek.

The Lexington like shadow then flew out of Shady's hand to become a more ambiguous bat winged mist, headed for parts unknown, save by her, into the night.

She then gave a low evil laugh.

In another part of the city, a small gargoyle will awaken the next night from stone sleep from a most disturbing nightmare.


	4. Chapter 4

****Castle Wyvern, the next night

Rubbing his eyes near the bridge of his nose, Lexington gave a weary sigh as sat down in front of the TV to watch a movie with the clan's new DVD player in hopes of further taking his mind of off the bad dream he had during the day.

Unlike humans, he could not just wake up in the middle of the day to discover the dream he had was only a frightful fabrication of his mind and find reassurance it was not real. That evening he had awoken from stone sleep shaking and giving off a roar in fear instead of the usual gargoyle fearsome cry.

He had just finished playing with Alex for a while, and the little boy's whimsy did well to temporarily refresh his spirit.

Now he just wished to be alone for a little while to clear his head and watch a movie to cheer him up as he popped a shiny round disk into the new DVD player. A couple hours later, he checked out the second disk of the movie that was called 'Special Features,' and began toying around with the idea of taking the player apart in his head to further see how it worked when a deep voice rumbled,

"Hello, Lexington."

Lex gave a start as he turned to see Goliath enter the clan's TV room as he then said, "I'm sorry, old friend, I didn't mean to startle you."

Lex gave a calming sigh as he said, "It's okay, Goliath, I guess that dream I had today had more effect on me than I thought."

The imposing clan leader sat down as he asked, "What had transpired during your dream to make you so uncomfortable?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lex snapped, making Goliath give him a wide eyed look.

"I'm sorry, Goliath," Lex said shamefully, "I know I've been acting like a jerk lately, and I can't help it. I don't know why."

Goliath said nothing but only gave Lex a patient look.

Giving a deep sigh, Lex began, "There're some details I want to forget about, but the long and short of it is that I found myself back in Maddox's lab again and his evil scientists were giving me more cybernetic parts, and I was awake this time screaming for them to stop but they wouldn't...They replaced an arm, a leg, even my wings and tail. And _he_ was there the whole time, laughing at me, first as Nicholas then as Madoc."

Lex saw the disturbed look upon Goliath's craggy handsome features as he continued, "I know it's like that one dream you told me about, and I don't want to be like that."

Goliath gave a nod as he said, "It was never the concept of you being part machine that was most distressing, Lexington, but how the Lexington in that vision so easily betrayed his clan and protectorate. A betrayal I would never expect from anyone from within this clan."

"I may be having issues right now," Lex said, "But I vow to you, Goliath, I will never do such a heinous thing. That isn't me."

"I know, and I thank you."

For a few moments, the clan leader and smallest member shared the simple comfort of companionship.

"I also came to see," Goliath finally said, "If you would be willing to accompany Hudson on tonight's second patrols."

Lex did not convey much enthusiasm, but he agreed to the patrol; anything to get his mind off of his nightmare. Or rather 'daymare.'

Later that night, Lex and Hudson were gliding over a rather peaceful cityscape, and though Lex wanted to find solace in it, he felt too vulnerable and too exposed, and sure as though something or someone was watching him.

Ever since his patrol with Hudson began, he kept a vigilant open eye, looking all around himself as though searching for any threat to his very being. He often veered this way and that around the elder gargoyle to get better bearings of their surroundings, which was beginning to mildly irritate Hudson as he said so,

"Lexington, will ye kindly cease yer flitterin' about, you're makin' me dizzy. What's makin' ye so skittish, lad, that ye need to circle and buzz about like an unfocused house fly?"

At first Lex just ignored Hudson's complaint, narrowed his vision to see better for any impending threats for he could have sworn he saw movements from the shadows below.

"Didn't you see it, Hudson?" he nervously asked.

"See what, Lad?"

"I'm not sure, I just know that there's something out there."

"There be always somethin' out there, Lad, this be New York a'ter all."

"No, Hudson, I mean there's _really_ something out there, following us, something familiar like. . ."

From somewhere nearby, a familiar maniacal female cackle echoed in Lex's ears and made him look to his left and down to see a faint burning light and hear the faint roar of jet packs.

"There!" Lex shouted as he dove down to where he saw the light, landing atop a city building covered with tall air conditioning units and several door entries like a miniature maze with enough places to hide.

Hudson then landed nearby as Lex said, "It was Hyena, I know it. The rest of the Ultra Pack must be near."

Hudson quickly drew his ancient sword as he attained a battle stance, but he could only feign confusion as he sniffed around for their familiar adversaries. All he could smell were the usual polluted city odors and no scent of any of the Ultra Pack, unless they now have somehow learned to conceal their bodily pheremones from heightened gargoyle senses.

"Come out, you cowards!" Lex angrily shouted, his eyes aglow with fury.

The evil laughter of two figures now echoed about the maze of ventilation systems; one feminine and psychotic, the other a more oily male and equally psychotic.

"Come and find us, you flying rat!" Hyena's voice echoed in the scattered open units in a mocking tone.

Lex leaped atop one of the larger vent systems for a better view, but still saw no sign of his hated adversaries. Growling with frustration from deep within his small chest, he leaped from one vent system to another like an agile jungle cat to find Hyena, Jackal, or any of the Ultra Pack, entirely ignoring Hudson's calls.

As he made another leap, something seemed to hit him hard from the side like a living battering ram and sonic jet to make him fall flat on his face and stomach. As he rolled over on his back to pick himself up, he looked up in surprise to see Jackal and Hyena standing over him, their black cyborg bodies gleaming with highlights of red and as maniacal as ever with their signature sinister smiles.

Jackal activated a deadly laser canon from his forearm and shot at Lexington, who did a backwards somersault to nearly avoid the deadly red energy beam and leave behind a burned black scorch mark moments where he was before.

Squatting on all fours with glowing white eyes, he growled at Hyena, "The last time I saw you Hyena, you said you were dying from your cybernization and you even looked like it, you were in crappy shape."

"I got better, so sue me," she smirked, then gave her maniacal laugh.

Lex gave a snarl as he leaped to attack, but the cyborg twins seemed to disappear like shadows, moving at a speed Lex did not remember them ever possessing.

Looking around himself he turned quickly to be kicked in his stomach by Jackal and fly back a few feet and nearly ran into Hyena which he avoided doing by sinking his toe talons into the concrete rooftop and leaving deep scratches.

"So tell me, you little twit," Hyena said as her right forearm morphed and contorted into a gleaming deadly round buzz saw, "How do you like being like us?"

Hyena swung her arm at Lex as it began to rapidly spin and give off a high pitched buzzing whine, Lex dodged the deadly weapon as it made red gold sparks dance as it hit the ground and missed him by centimeters and left a deep clean cut in the concrete.

"I'm nothing like you!" the male webbed wing gargoyle shouted.

"Don't kid yourself, lizard boy," Jackal mocked with his oily toned voice, as he fired a small barrage of deadly finger mini missiles that sank into a vent's metal wall to leave an erratic path of holes as Lex cunningly dodged them with his natural speed.

"You're becoming more like us all the time," the male cyborg snared in self amusement.

"Never!" Lex screamed as he dodged Jackal's line of fire, but failed to move out of the way of a deadly laser beam that shot from Jackel's optic lens to leave a long thin burn mark on the rooftop to then leave a clean but painful cut in the lower part of Lex's right wing. He briefly ignored the pain as he dodged his enemies' violent and torturous bombardments.

"Don't worry your little bald head about it, you little reptile, you'll learn to love it," Hyena mocked with another maniacal laugh.

"NOOO!" Lex screamed as he leaped to attack the psycho twins, but as a team they caught each of his arms and pinned him to the ground flat on his back.

"Say good bye to this life, gargoyle!" Jackal said dangerously as his hand morphed into a box like structure reminiscent of a Quarryhammer.

"NO!" Lex screamed again as he squeezed his eyes shut and expected the first blow.

"Lexington, ye foolish whelp, snap out o' it!" Hudson's voice shouted seemingly through Jackal mouth.

Instead of the blow of a deadly hammer to cave in his skull, Lex felt a hard slap across his face which forced his eyes open to see Hudson holding him down in place of Jackal and Hyena.

"What the . . . Hudson?" Lex stammered in confusion.

"Aye, it be me," the elder gargoyle said, "There's nay anyone else about."

"B-But I saw them, Jackal and Hyena, they attacked me," Lex angrily insisted.

"Ye be seein' shadows, Lad. Jackal, Hyena, nor any o' the Ultra Pack be about this night. Ye were fightin' air and shadows, but mostly me."

Hudson let Lex up again, who then quickly looked around the rooftop and found no evidence of his supposed battle with the cyber twins, though Hudson did have a few clawed scratches on himself.

"But I could've sworn they were here, they seemed so real."

"Mayhap we should hasten ye back to the castle, Lad," Hudson said patiently, "Have the lass, Yin, have a look at ye."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Lex said, not at all thrilled with the thought of being looked at by the jade healer and the awkward shame he still felt for the unintended insult a few nights earlier.

As the two gargoyles took to the sky again Lex whispered to himself, "What's happening to me?"

The rest of the night he became more disturbed and confused about the experience.


	5. Chapter 5

The next two nights did not become any easier for Lexington, where by day he had garish nightmares that became worse each time, and by night he was certain to have encountered members of the Ultra Pack or insisted that Madoc was still alive, taunting and laughing at him from the shadows.

Though he tried to take to heart the reassurances of his clan, it was becoming harder to believe them. None of them could really understand, something was trying to get him and he had to face it alone.

Alone. To be alone was among any gargoyle's worst fear, and to constantly be on guard when you feel like the prey was draining. Part of Lex could not help but laugh a bit at this irony of having a little more respect and appreciation for Demona and what she may have had to endure for a thousand years.

But he is strong, a warrior. And warriors never give in to fears.

However, Lex had the weird idea that he can do more for his clan, something useful beyond just being a tech expert in a semi-technophobic clan, or even being a future rookery keeper. Off and on for a few months, ever since putting together and upgrading defenses for the castle with Xanatos during the Unseelie War, Lex learned he had a hidden talant for marketing and management as well as computer programming. Since then he had toyed with the idea of learning to start a business of his own, and Xanatos even offered to mentor him or even be Lex's first investor and/or silent partner.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to think about that, but it was fun. Maybe Liz could give him a few ideas.

In the meantime, he needed to workout problems he was having in the here and now.

Yet despite the difficulties he had so far, he remembered his promise to meet his good friend, Liz, that night. The last time he saw Liz in person, they talked at a park bench in a quiet corner of Central Park where she told him she was going to college in London and she helped convince him to make reparations with Brooklyn. Though they kept in touch all these months, it will still be great seeing her again.

As Lex landed near the place to meet his friend, he was unsure of whether to feel relief at the quiet and empty scene or nervous and keep his vigilance. He landed with a clumsy grace near the bench and sat down to wait for his friend.

Though he was a few minutes early, it seemed forever for Liz to arrive and he found himself unconsciously tapping his toe talons or twiddling his thumbs in eagerness; he was also certain that he was being watched, yet he did not see anyone around. He would have looked at his watch for the time, but then remembered he did not wear a watch, and why would he need to when he had kick ass gargoyle biorhythms.

"There you are," a less than thrilled sounding voice said, giving Lex a slight start.

Lex turned to see Liz standing just to the side, looking exactly as she did the last time he had seen her, having walked up to him without even making a sound.

"Hey, Liz," he breathed in relief, "You startled me there for a sec. So, how was your grandparents' anniversary party? What do you want to do tonight?"

Instead of answering, Liz just gave him a cold stare which made Lex very uneasy.

"I only came to tell you it's over, Lex," Liz said coldly, "I don't know what I thought I would get from this friendship."

"What?!" Lex could not believe what he was hearing.

"Whatever you thought you would get from me, it isn't going to happen. How could I ever be friends with a freak like you."

"B-But I thought . . ."

"She is right," said another female voice, making Lex turn around to see an ice blue female gargoyle with snow white hair step from the shadows.

"Aurora?" Lex gasped, wondering how she suddenly came all the way from Antarctica.

"You are unnatural, Lexington of the Manhattan Clan," she said in a tone as cold as her home, "As unnatural as that great metal bird I had to endure such humiliation with. As unnatural as the humans' machines you are so pathetically fond of."

"Aye, that he is," said another female voice, "As unnatural as his corrupted leader and his perverted choice of mate."

Lex spun around to see another female gargoyle step from the shadows, this one a forest brown color with a wild mane of mahogany curls.

"Kirstie," he gasped, "I thought you were more open minded than that."

"I cannae choose a male who may be as sterile and unfeeling as a machine," Kirstie said coldly.

"Nor I," Aurora coldly agreed.

"I'm not sterile!" Lex yelled, "And I'm not a machine, I just have a few implants in my eyes."

How did they even know of his implants? He never mentioned it to either of the females he met at the council meeting, or maybe he stupidly did and forgot about it.

However they found out they knew now. What if they were right? What if he is sterile? What if he is unnatural? What if he is more machine than gargoyle?

As the three females gathered around Lex as though to entrap him, he found himself backing away until he bumped into something hard and metallic. He turned to see an old metal trashcan and see his distorted reflection, yet it was not his own image. Instead he saw what could have been a robot of the Steel Clan, save for its gold coloring and it was in Lexington's image.

Lex stared in frozen shock at the image, yet the robot's face remained coldly expressionless. With each small movement Lex did the robot did in sync with him, a movement of the hand to touch his face or a tilt of the head.

"No," Lex whispered.

"NOOO!" He screamed as he punched hard at the trashcan to leave a deep dent and make it spill out its rubbish as it fell to the ground with a loud metallic crash.

Save for the three females surrounding him, the entire world around him suddenly became a black void.

"This is where you belong," they all said with the same raspy voice echoed three times, "You know this is all you will ever have."

Lex continued to scream his frightful protests as this vision bombarded him, and somewhere in the distance a familiar voice shouted his name.

"Your fate is to always be alone," the three females said together, then began laughing maniacally at him.

They were right, deep down he knew they were. Now that his brothers had lifemates, he was excluded from everything and was destined to always be alone. He should just let it all end here, find a high place and jump just as the Sun rises and let it end his misery. He would rather die than be alone for the rest of his life just because he was so different.

All of a sudden, another female figure came running out of the void and punched at the three females in one swing as she angrily shouted, "Leave him alone, you bitch!"

The other three females fell back from the punch and merged into one being as the other female figure was suddenly kneeling in front of Lex and grasping his shoulders in a hard grip as she desperately asked him,

"Lex, are you okay?!"

"Huh? Wha . . .What happ . . .? Liz?" Lex stammered as he shook his head to clear his vision to indeed see the real Liz before him, dressed in jeans and a Quake t-shirt and her blond hair in a ponytail, and somehow a bit more mature.

As the world came to life again in wondrous vibrancy, even at night, Liz said, "Who is she, Lex? What did she do to you?"

Coming out of his confusion, Lex looked behind his human friend to see another familiar female dressed in Goth style clothing, the other three females having completely disappeared, including Liz's doppelganger.

"Shady?" Lex gasped as she picked herself up and brushed herself off from Liz's punch as she gave a low menacing laugh.

"It's nice you remember me, pigeon, but you were a little difficult to follow," Shady said with cold amusement as she pushed some hair behind an ear to reveal it to have a delicate yet sharp angle.

"You're . . . a Halfling?" Lex gasped in shock, to which Shady just laughed.

"Not entirely, even if I was at first pissed at Mr. M at what he did to me," she said, "But he did say when I was ready I'd be as deadly as a nightshade."

"You," Lex said with dawning realization, "You were that experiment. You're Nightshade, I should've known. You weren't being attacked by that street gang, you must've been terrorizing them but they didn't know it."

Shady gave a dark evil laugh that was also strangely musical.

"It's not your fault you're not as perceptive as you thought you were, little gargoyle," Shady chuckled darkly, "The shadows always hide what you can't see and therefore fear most."

"Shut up, you damn punk rocker bitch," Liz snapped, "What'd you do to him, anyway?"

Shady just snorted and gave a shrug as she said, "I don't know what I can fully do yet. But I know I can make normies experience their worst fears, and give my own fun twist while I somehow get stronger from it. And seeing what a gargoyle is afraid of has been very interesting. Makes me wonder what else you flying reptiles are afraid of."

"Just leave him alone, or you'll have to fight me," Liz said bravely as she stood between her friend and his dark stalker.

"Fine," Shady smirked as her eyes began to glow a sinister violet.

Lexington boldly placed himself between Nightshade and Liz, a determined look upon his youthful yet matured face and tense posture pulsed from his body as he prepared to defend his friend as the protector his was hatched to be.

Shady merely smiled maliciously at them when footfalls suddenly came running up the path.

"What's going on over there?" another female voice demanded with authority as a beam of light bobbed about in front of the silhouette of a police officer, Shady's eyes having lost their glow and her face twisted in inconvienced annoyance at this sudden denial of fun.

"Later, pigeons," Shady smirked as she disappeared in a billow of black mist.

Liz and Lex then turned to see a blond and willowy police woman come up the path, a lit flashlight in one hand and a guard baton in the other, to ask them,

"Are you kids okay?"

"Yes, officer, we're okay. Our attacker fled as you came over," Liz said a bit nervously, Lex frozen in place beside her as he watched to new unknown police woman observe them and returned her baton to her belt.

"Well," Officer Quinn began, "I suggest you kids be a little more careful in the park at night, but you're lucky to have each other to watch over. If you're ever in trouble again, don't hesitate to call, the name's Quinn of the 23rd."

She handed them a card as Lex said, "I have friends who work there." He then immediately regretted it.

Quinn just gave a perky smile as she wished them good night and was soon gone.

The two friends stood silently for a few moments as Quinn left.

"That was a little weird," Lex commented, "She didn't seem to notice I'm a gargoyle, and try to arrest me."

"Maybe you aren't the only gargoyle she's seen before, or maybe she's a PIT supporter."

They just shared a laugh as they began to walk together.

"Are you gonna be okay, bud?" Liz finally asked.

"I am now that you're here, thanks," Lex said, though he was still a bit shaken by the experience of the hallucinations.

"These past few nights made me realize how tired I am of living in fear," Lex said with determination, "The past is over and done with, and can't be changed, I understand that now. I just don't want to be alone for the rest of my life, 'cause sometimes it feels like I'm losing everything I've ever known. I just want to do more for my clan than what I'm doing now, something to help us become more accepted into the human world. I also hope there's someone special for me in the future, like Goliath and my brothers."

"Why, Lex, are you asking me out?" Liz teased.

"Liz," Lex groaned.

"It's okay, Lex," she laughed good naturedly, "I know how you feel, I haven't found that special someone, either. But I do care about you, Lex, like a brother."

"And you're like a rookery sister to me, being there for me just now. But it'll take me a while to get over this experience with Shady. I had thought she was just another human is distress, and maybe a possible new supporter for the clan when she didn't show fear towards me and Broadway a few nights ago."

"I know it's difficult for you to make new friends, Lex, but you can never have too many. Just be sure that next time they're really who they say they are and not some dark elf wannbe rocker chick."

Lex gave a laugh as they then shared a warm familial hug as they continued their quiet walk, and decided to talk about what to do that night simply to enjoy familiar companionship in each other's presence.

"So have you thought about how you want to better help your clan?" she soon asked.

"I don't know," Lex said, "I've actually thought about starting my own business. I know I can do it, and I've learned a thing or two from Xanatos, mostly what not to do. Maybe a gaming business or something in cybernetics research."

"Sounds like fun," Liz said with a smile, "Just be sure to make your games really challenging if I'm going to be in your Alpha test group."

The two friends laughed again, then Liz said, "You know, Lex, a lot of people go through life never meeting their one true soul mate, like this aunt I have on my Dad's side. But you're never really alone when you have friends like me, Lex, and your family. And sometimes if you're really lucky, you may have already met that special someone without even knowing it."

****Somewhere in the Southwestern United States.

Rae sat at the computer with a mix of her usual excitement and fleeting disappointment. Though she always enjoyed chatting with her online friends and playing against them in online games, she sometimes wished she could meet them in person. But it was often difficult for her to make friends, one reason because she is such a tomboy, but often for another very obvious reason. It was why she became content with having online friends, even though she often wished for more from life.

Tonight she just wished she could hear from her online pal LexT. It annoyed her a little that she had not heard from him in a while, and he had promised her a rematch at one of their games.

She liked the guy, but sometimes he seemed like such a dweeb. But he did remind her a little of her brothers before they died. She was certain her brothers and LexT would have like each other if they were given the chance to meet, and hopefully he was not prejudice if the news stories she heard about that terrorist group called the Quarrymen in New York were even true.

"Yo, Rae," a voice said from behind. She turned to see it was her friend, Shawn, who was currently attending college and majoring in web designing. He looked a little disappointed or annoyed, she was not sure which until he made it clear.

"Sorry, kid, but Michelle just called. She wants you home now."

Rae gave a groan as she went offline. As much as she loved her elder sister, she always wished Michelle would not be so strict.

She then climbed to the top of her friend's two story home and leaped off of the rooftop to allow the dry warm desert winds to carry her off into the distance as she spread her wings.

End of episode 10


End file.
